Instruction: Bill Forrest -- 2006 PGA Teacher of the Year
Good morning
Just wanted to know the real story on the down swing. do you start the down swing by shiften your weight first? or arms and legs at the same time?
thanks
Steve Ross
Steve: The transition from the end of your backswing to the beginning of the downswing is a controversial part of the golf swing. The consensus is that your downswing begins with the part of your body that moves most in your backswing. Let me explain. If you have a lot of movement in your left foot, your downswing will start by planting your left heel. If you have little movement in your feet, your downswing will start with your left knee and/or your left hip. In a perfect world this appropriate movement with one of these body parts will allow your arms to fall, and these arms and body will rotate through the ball together. The problem lies in the body rotating first and the arms falling afterwards.......this is the dreaded "over the top" move.
Remember, arms fall as the lower body functions and everything follows.
Bill
Every few rounds I get a case of the fats. It seems as if every iron i swing at I hit bedhind the ball. This happemns from th 5 iron all the way up to a sand wedge. I haqve tries changing ball position with no success so it has to be something in the swing. There are times I can go out the next dat and not do it at all. I'm frustrated.
Thanks
Chris D'Addio
Chris: My first question is "do the fat shots occur late in the round?" If the answer is yes, your legs have stopped working. Early in your round or practice session when your legs are strong and active, you shift your weight through the ball to your front foot. As your legs tire unnoticeably this forward shift ends at or prior to impact.
Here is a drill for you Chris. Take a seven iron and address an imaginary ball, with a narrow stance, middle of your feet. Put the ball itself three inches forward of middle. With the ball well left/forward of where you would normally position it, your eyes will send a message to your body to get off your back foot and chase the ball. Do the drill, get used to finishing on your front foot and let me know about the results.
Bill
Equipment: Tom Henderson -- PGA Professional, Master Club Fitter
Tom,
I am 5'6" and carry a handicap of 4. Throughout my golfing career I have used standard length and lie irons. I have been recently reading up on fitting and plan on getting my irons' lies (finally) adjusted. Logic tells me that because I am short and have a low hands address that my clubs need to be flatter and because I have never had a fitting, it seems a static fitting would make the most sense. If I have been using clubs that are too upright for years, I'm sure I have tweaked my swing to compensate thus rendering a dynamic fitting kind of worthless. I feel as though if I were to flatten my irons to set level at address, even if I struggle at first, the right changes to keep the club level through impact could help consistency. So, I guess in a nutshell, because it is my first fitting, should I fit the club to my swing, or fit the club to my body and work my swing to fit the club.
Thanks,
Jared
Jared:
Thanks for your question on PGA.com.
I'm happy that you are considering "getting fit" for new equipment. For you to play to a 4 handicap with "off the rack" equipment means that you are either extremely gifted or very lucky!
Don't start and end the process with a static fit. This is merely a beginning point. A dynamic fit is where it's at! Schedule an appointment with an experienced PGA Professional club fitter. Make sure this session takes place OUTDOORS using actual ball flight to provide feedback. Your checklist for areas to test will include: lie angle, loft, shaft length, shaft flex, shaft flex point, shaft material, head type (offset vs. non-offset), grip size, grip material.
Everyone has a natural swinging motion. Fit your equipment to that motion.
Do the numbers on golf balls have any meaning?
Alvin Burnette
Alvin:
The only reason for a number on a golf ball is for identification purposes.
Because many golfers play the same number and brand of golf ball, I would strongly suggest that you use a Sharpie to make additional markings on your ball. This will insure that you don't hit a wrong ball and incur a penalty during your round.
Fitness: Dave Phillips -- PGA Professional, Titleist Performance Institute
I am in my 70's and find that I am losing my strength. What do you recommend to help keep my distance.
Thanks,
Anita
Anita,
As we get older there are two things that can hurt our overall distance. The most common cause is the loss of skeletal muscle mass, known as sarcopenia. To complicate this, there are two types of muscle fibers in your body, fast twitch muscles and slow twitch muscles. The fast twitch ones are the guys responsible for speed and power. Unfortunately they are the ones that seem to decrease the most with aging. The second reason for losing distance as we age is loss of mobility. I always say, "There is no point in owning a sling shot if you can pull back the rubber band". Muscle can create elastic energy, just like rubber bands. If you lose your ability to elongate your muscles then power will be lost. So what should you do? The good news is there is one answer for both problems: Strength Training.
The body has no age limit to lifting weights and good old-fashion weight training helps both maintain muscle mass and improve mobility. I recommend you get with a personal trainer and start a 2-3 time a week strength training routine. Make sure you perform 2 sets or 8 repetitions per exercise. Attack all body parts with each workout and use free weights verses machines wherever possible. Use a weight that challenges your muscles, but allows you to maintain perfect form. Lastly, make sure each exercise is performed through a full range of motion. This will help elongate the muscles and keep you flexibility.
Now go hit the best drive of your life!!!
Rules: John Crumbley -- Certified PGA Professional, Rules Expert
If I move an impediment from around my ball and the Ball moves (shutters or shakes) but doesn't change position is it a penalty stroke.
Bill Taylor
Bill,
The USGA Rules of Golf Definitions define the ball has moved as:
Move or Moved
A ball is deemed to have "moved'' if it leaves its position and comes to rest in any other place.
Rule 23 tells us that if you remove or move a loose impediment and therefore cause the ball to move you are subject to penalty under Rule 18. "If the ball lies anywhere other than on the putting green and the removal of a loose impediment by the player causes the ball to move, Rule 18-2a applies."
That is all I can tell you about your situation. I don't have enough information to tell if your ball moved or not and if you caused it. Use the information I've given you and your conscience to decide if you should receive a penalty. After all golf is a game where the player penalizes himself.
After placing a mark on my ball, on the green, I tossed it to my caddy who did not catch it, it rolled down an embankment into a lake and was lost. Do I incur a penalty?
Hank Lopez
Rule 15 permits a player to play a wrongly substituted ball under penalty of the rule the ball was substituted. In your case the ball was lifted under Rule 16 The Putting Green and the penalty for breach of this rule is lose of hole in match play and two strokes in stroke play.
15-2 Substituted Ball
A player may substitute a ball when proceeding under a Rule that permits the player to play, drop or place another ball in completing the play of a hole. The substituted ball becomes the ball in play.
If a player substitutes a ball when not permitted to do so under the Rules, that substituted ball is not a wrong ball; it becomes the ball in play. If the mistake is not corrected as provided in Rule 20-6 and the player makes a stroke at a wrongly substituted ball, he incurs the penalty prescribed by the applicable Rule and in stroke play, must play out the hole with the substituted ball.
Rule 16
b. Lifting and Cleaning Ball
A ball on the putting green may be lifted and, if desired, cleaned. The position of the ball must be marked before it is lifted and the ball must be replaced (See Rule 20-1).
